Gold price today at Rs 50,810 per 10 gm, silver trending at Rs 68,800 a kg

Gold price on Thursday jumped to Rs 50,810 for 10 gm from Rs 50,520 and the silver price is trending at Rs 68,800 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery price varies across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

In New Delhi, the price of 22-carat gold is at Rs 46,590 per 10 gm, while in Chennai it fell to Rs 45,060. The rate in Mumbai was Rs 45,200 according to the website. The price of 24-carat gold in Chennai was Rs 49,160 per 10 gm.  

Gold imports, which have a bearing on the country's current account deficit (CAD), rose by 22.58 per cent to $34.6 billion (about Rs 2.54 trillion) during 2020-21 due to increased domestic demand, according to the Commerce Ministry data.

Silver imports during the last fiscal, however, dipped by 71 per cent to about $791 million. Imports of the yellow metal stood at $8.23 billion (about Rs 2 trillion) in 2019-20, the data showed.

Despite growth in gold imports, the country's trade deficit narrowed to $98.56 billion during 2020-21 as against $161.3 billion in 2019-20. Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Chairman Colin Shah said that increasing domestic demand is pushing up imports of gold.

The demand for gold would further increase on account of forthcoming auspicious Akshaya Tritiya and marriage season which could increase the CAD.

In the international market, Gold jumped 1% on Wednesday propelled by sliding US Treasury yields, while bets for supply shortfalls powered auto-catalyst metal palladium to a record high.

Spot gold had risen 0.8% to $1,791.51 per ounce by 11:10 a.m EDT (1510 GMT), having earlier hit its highest since Feb. 25 at $1,797.41. U.S. gold futures gained 0.7% to $1,790.40.

"Gold's pain over the last couple of months has been the rising Treasury yields and now that has pretty much been alleviated," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"The current outlook for the global economy is still mixed... You're going to see a much more cautious approach in the next quarter and that's probably going to see gold start to see some safe haven flows," Moya added. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields languished below 1.6%, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold.